The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Code of Conduct is a code or standard of ethics that is be used to set a standard above ordinary morality for Tennessee State Troopers. Failure to comply with this Code of Conduct and any other policies, which may be specific to the employee’s organizational unit, may subject the employee to disciplinary action in accordance with the Department of Human Resources Rules and Regulations. All employees are required to read and sign this Code of Conduct before assuming their job responsibilities ("State of Tennessee _ Code of Conduct," 2016, p. 1).
When determining why ethical behavior is important to the criminal justice system, lets first define just what ethics is. According to Merriam-Webster ethics is defined as an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior: a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong ("Ethics," n.d.). A police officer in the criminal justice system is the symbol of power and authority, all the way from the uniform, the badge to the gun they carry. For many people officers of the law are signs of hope, heroes, father figures and everything right that is in the world. Kids grow up with dreams of being police officers and chasing bad guys and always coming out on top.
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For many people these statements can have many different meanings, but as police officers we have decided to live our life by a certain set of standards or a code of life do what is right; to make a difference in